What’s It Like Flying Short-Haul With Vueling? This Was My Experience From Bilbao to Barcelona.

On a recent trip to Bilbao in northern Spain, Vueling offered an attractive nonstop flight to Barcelona. As it’s a prominent low-cost carrier in Spain, I mostly knew what to expect.

However, there were a few surprises along the way, such as the great value I got when using Avios for this flight, complimentary internet, and an odd process for getting off the plane.

Here’s a look at my 1-hour domestic flight with Vueling in early March 2026.

Booking Vueling From Bilbao to Barcelona

For my nonstop flight between Bilbao (BIO) and Barcelona (BCN) in early March 2026, Vueling charged $46 for a basic economy ticket, which it calls Fly Light. This included a personal item and nothing more — not even choosing a seat or earning Avios on the flight.

Additional package offers were available, with Fly ($44 extra) offering a standard seat choice, earlier online check-in capability, Avios earning, and a choice between checked luggage or a larger carry-on item. Meanwhile, Fly Grande ($80 extra) included both checked and carry-on luggage, premium seat choices, rebooking flexibility, and double Avios-earning rates.

Interestingly, I could use Avios from my Iberia Club account to book this same flight, which included checked luggage and a personal item. The only difference from the Fly package was that it didn’t include a seat choice, but I still found it attractive at 3,500 Avios plus $25.60.

I paid for my flight with my Platinum Card^® from American Express, as it earns 5x Membership Rewards points on flights directly with the airline or through AmexTravel.com — up to $500,000 of these purchases annually, then 1x earnings.

Vueling is a low-cost airline, meaning everything comes with an extra cost. Here were the luggage and seat selection costs on my trip:

What’s It Like Flying Vueling Within Spain?

Let’s take a look at how the flight went.

Boarding

Boarding was organized and started on time. Signposts clearly indicated where people should line up, based on the group listed on their boarding passes. People respected the boarding order, meaning the line moved efficiently.

Cabin and Seats

Vueling’s A320 planes use a 3-3 layout. I didn’t pay to choose a seat, hoping I would get lucky and avoid a middle seat. However, I would’ve accepted it if that happened, since this was just a 1-hour flight. Luckily, I was assigned a window seat in the back half of the plane and was fine with that.

Seats weren’t the most modern-looking but had a clean, uniform appearance.

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Rows of seats.

Pitch (the amount of space between rows) wasn’t great at 29 inches. Luckily, this was a short flight. I’m 5 feet, 10 inches tall, and my knees touched the back of the seat in front of me.

There weren’t entertainment screens on the seats. The only features on each seat were a coat hook, some advertising, information about the Wi-Fi system, and a tray table. Unfortunately, I found gum stuck inside my tray table when I opened it. Gross.

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Back of the seat.

What’s Included, and What Isn’t?

As a low-cost carrier, Vueling doesn’t provide any complimentary drinks or snacks on short-haul flights. That meant anything I wanted, even water, had to be purchased or brought on board.

I found a menu in the seat pocket, clearly indicating prices for items like coffee, beer, sodas, chips, sandwiches, and more. Flight attendants passed down the aisle with a service cart for interested passengers.

I was surprised to see that my flight offered Wi-Fi, including 15 minutes of free use. The complimentary Wi-Fi wasn’t limited to messaging but was full internet access, which I appreciated. It was also possible to purchase access for the duration of the flight. For my 1-hour flight, the full pass cost just €0.99 ($1.15).

The internet system also offered complimentary entertainment to watch on your own device once connected.

Service

My Vueling flight didn’t come with any frills, but it didn’t lack anything. Gate agents were friendly while scanning boarding passes and enforcing boarding groups. Flight attendants greeted passengers during boarding and were available to assist when asked, but they didn’t go out of their way to proactively help customers during boarding.

When passing through the cabin with the snack cart, the flight attendants focused on efficiency, given the short length of our flight and how few people were purchasing anything. When we arrived, the crew made multiple announcements to let us know we hadn’t reached the gate yet and to remain seated. Then there was an announcement saying no one should get up, as we would be told when it was our turn to leave the plane.

The deplaning process was … let’s call it odd. The crew announced 3 or 4 rows of passengers at a time that could stand up, gather their belongings, and exit the plane. However, it wasn’t always the next row. We started with rows 1 to 4, then 16 to 20, then the last few rows of the plane, etc. I think the idea was to avoid everyone getting up at once and try to deplane groups of passengers who wouldn’t get in each other’s way.

The practical effect, though, was that this process felt slower than the free-for-all deplaning that happens with most airlines. Because passengers were confused about when their turn to exit the plane would arrive and then asked questions of the flight attendants, I wasn’t a fan. It took longer to get off the plane from my seat than a standard deplaning process would’ve required.

Final Thoughts

Other than the strange deplaning process, my Vueling flight was everything I wanted: No frills, cheap, and safe. I even got 15 minutes of free internet and avoided a middle seat without paying for seat selection, so those were added bonuses.

I’m also happy that I booked this flight with Avios at an above-average value.

I have no doubt I’ll fly Vueling again, given the prices. I’m hoping the deplaning process won’t be so slow next time.